Washington

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Survey findings and summary

Thumbtack, in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has released
Washington's results from the third annual Thumbtack.com
Small Business Friendliness Survey. The study, drawing upon data from over 12,000
small business owners, provides new insights into state and local business
environments across the nation.

"After a two-month survey of thousands of small business owners nationwide,
small businesses have given us a unique snapshot into their interactions with governments across the United States," says Jon Lieber, Chief Economist of
Thumbtack. "Creating a business climate that is welcoming to small, dynamic
businesses is more important than ever, and Washington still has a ways to go to get that right."

Some of the key findings for Washington include:

Washington earned one of the worst grades in the country for its regulations - a D+ - but earned an A- for the ease of starting a business.

Small businesses were particularly hard on Washington's labor and environmental laws, giving both a grade of D, and its zoning regulations earned a grade of F.

Female entrepreneurs in Washington were significantly more likely to give their state government positive reviews than male entrepreneurs, rating the friendliness of state government 15 percent higher than their male counterparts.

Washington's networking and training programs for small businesses scored very well, rating 6th in the nation overall.

Washington's regulations were some of the worst in the land - the highest grade received in any category was for licensing, which earned a grade of C.

The top rated states overall were Utah, Idaho, Texas, Virginia and Louisiana. The lowest rated were Rhode Island, Illinois, California, Connecticut and New Jersey.

A copy of the survey's full methodology and analysis paper is available upon
request. Please email Thumbtack's Chief Economist, Jon Lieber, at
jon.lieber@thumbtack.com for a copy
of the paper and with any questions or comments you might have.